Sari's Padawan Years Jedi Hunters
by Sari1995
Summary: Sari and Bow are supposed to save Trajh from the Lonuian Sith Order, but who will save them when they are captured by Jedi Hunters and given to the Sith? And even worse ... will they give in to the dark side when the Sith torture them?
1. Chapter 1

Everything was going as planned. They had rescued Trajh and made it out of the Sith base unnoticed . . . or so they thought . . .

Sari and Bow ran with Trajh, trying to reach the outer tree line of the Southwestern Shadowlands of Lonü. If they reached the tree line they would at least have a chance of escaping from their soon-to-be pursuers.

[I still can't believe that that person looked and sounded like Diz! I don't understand how he could have survived the Sith purge!] Sari thought.

•Don't think, just run. : Bow said through the Force, intruding on her thoughts.

There was only half of a courtyard between them and the tree line, but their pursuers had already found them . . .

Sari sensed the shock net before she saw it, and its path toward Trajh. "Look out!" But she knew he wouldn't have the speed to dodge it. She leapt in front of him and was caught in it, being electrocuted at the same time. Sari landed on the ground and struggled to get out of the net as Bow ignited his lightsaber. He moved to protect both Sari and Trajh from their phantom attackers.

But he didn't know that they were Jedi hunters and that the whole rescue mission had been a trap . . .

Bow fought the urge to help Sari. He had to concentrate on blocking whatever their attackers threw at them. But it was almost hopeless. Jedi hunters were trained in the art of capturing and killing Jedi, and they did their job extremely well . . .

A sonic charge flew through the air and exploded, sending out a highly-focused, high-pitched wail. Time seemed to slow, and Bow couldn't concentrate enough to use the Force.

Sari, however, had finally been able to reach her lightsaber and slice through the net. But she didn't think that there would be someone behind her. The person behind her grabbed her sword arm and twisted it so that it was only inches from her neck.

"Drop your weapon or she dies!" Bow looked at her precarious situation. He couldn't attack Sari's captor, because if he tried to get close, the hunter would kill her for sure, and if he threw his lightsaber he would most likely hit Sari, if the hunter didn't decapitate her first. What he needed was time to think, but the hunter was growing impatient.

"Hurry up Jedi, make your decision, my arm is getting tired." He said as he moved the lightsaber closer to her neck. Bow deactivated his lightsaber and threw it to the ground. Trajh picked it up and began to admire it.

"Hmm. Your lightsaber is very interesting Jedi, a good addition to our collection." Bow tried to keep calm as he learned that Trajh had been a Jedi hunter the whole time . . .

The person holding Sari still held the lightsaber close to her neck and didn't deactivate it until both she and Bow were in force restraints. They were then led back into the base they had just "rescued" Trajh from, but instead of going to the holding cells where Trajh had been held, they were led to the torture chambers, where many Jedi had been converted into Sith by torture, manipulation, and fear of death by Diz and his fellow Sith lords . . .

Bow and Sari were separated, each literally being thrown in a separate cell. The cell that Sari was thrown in was pitch-black, and she couldn't sense anything because of the heavy concentration of the dark side. The fear and pain of people who had previously been in the cell was almost overpowering, as was the sickly-sweet smell of death and the energy of lightning . . . Force lightning.

Sari tried to fight her rising fear, but was unsuccessful. Her pulse quickened as an evil laugh echoed through the room. A bolt of Force lightning shot out of the darkness and struck Sari. Pain shot through her, but a couple seconds later it stopped. Then two bolts sang through the air and struck her, followed by a third and a fourth. They stopped, and then started up again, this time with more intensity. A chorus of laughs echoed through the room as she yelled in pain. But it wasn't even close to being over, this was just the beginning . . .

The lightning stopped, leaving Sari on the verge of unconsciousness. "Now that you've experienced the power of the dark side, do you still wish to be our enemy?"

Sari didn't answer; she was in too much pain.

"Well?" The voice questioned.

She still didn't answer.

"Give her some time to think Eyre. It's a big decision for her and we wouldn't want her to . . . make a mistake. Besides, we have another Jedi to . . . tend to."

[. . . . That's . . . Diz's voice . . . . I can't believe he's teaching his own Sith now . . . here on Lonü . . . and we never knew . . .]

Beams of light spread through the dark room as the door opened and four figures walked out of the cell. The door shut behind them, leaving Sari in the darkness, slowly drifting into unconsciousness . . .


	2. Chapter 2

Bow didn't understand why he hadn't been tortured as soon as he had entered the cell. Instead, he waited, suspended in an energy field, while in the cell next to his, Sari was going through an unbearable amount of pain . . . he could tell by the screams. He could only hope that his padawan had the strength to resist the dark side.

Finally the door opened and four figures came in like shadows. They circled him as the lights went out one by one, ultimately making the room pitch-black. Now it was his turn to suffer . . .

"That's ironic. The student can take more pain than the teacher." Diz said as he looked at an armor-less and unconscious Bow. It was only a short hour from when the session had begun.

"Speaking of which, we should . . . check on her, don't you think?" Ansem, another Sith Lord, asked.

"I was about to say the same thing." Diz said as they exited Bow's cell. "We didn't get an answer from her the first time."

The pain seemed to have doubled since the last session, and again Sari was almost unconscious.

"So about that invitation, what do you think? All this pain will end if you just join us."

"I . . . . . . I . . . ." Sari fell unconscious before she could finish her sentence.

"I knew you shouldn't have done that last bolt. Now we'll have to wait again." Eyre said angrily.

"Don't worry." Baize said. "At least we have something to do in the meantime. Her master still hasn't decided yet."

Bow had managed to stay conscious throughout the torture session. At the end, they tried, as always, to tempt him to the dark side. But after punishing the acolytes who "Failed to give a good tempt", Diz, a master Sith Lord, showed them "an example of a true tempt."

"I'm sorry that the apprentices _failed_ to give an _adequate_ tempt to an _experienced_ Jedi such as you, so I'll just come right out and say it. Join us or die. And I can assure you that your death won't be swift. We'll draw it out as much as we can, until you beg for death, but not even then will you find it."

There was a silence, but then Bow spoke firmly and surely. "No . . . I won't join you."

"Well that's too bad, but if you won't, maybe your padawan will." Diz walked out of the cell along with the acolytes and the other Sith Lord, Ansem.

Outside, the hunters had been waiting. Diz had promised them that if one of the Jedi openly refused, they could torture that one as they pleased . . . The Sith weren't the only ones who liked to see the Jedi suffer.

Diz told them "He's all yours." And they smiled. Some even laughed as they imagined the torture they'd put this Jedi through. The only thing they had to promise was not to kill him . . . yet.

Bow had never experienced so much pain before. The hunters had used nearly every known torture technique . . . and even some that were probably of their own creation that were unknown. His cries didn't help Sari, who was being tempted in the adjacent cell.

"Listen to his screams. He will die because of his refusal to join us. Don't make the same mistake. It'll be the last one you ever make."

Sari mumbled something, but Diz couldn't understand what she had said. Bow screamed again and Sari winced, imagining the pain her master was going through.

[If my master did everything to resist it, and it makes people this merciless and causes them to want to cause pain to others, I don't want it. I don't want to fall to the dark side . . . no matter what it takes.]

"No, I won't fall to the dark side."

There was a long silence, then the Dark Lord spoke. "We'll see about that." He left leaving Sari wondering if she'd made the right decision.

"You know, you're lucky." Diz said to Bow, who had been tortured nearly to death. "I've decided against giving you a long, slow death. Instead, I'll make your padawan watch as you die. If that's not enough to turn her, then she will meet the same fate." The Dark Lord then left, nodding to the torture overseer.

The overseer knew what the nod meant. Bow braced himself, but then relaxed as Medi, the common Lonüian healing agent, began to heal his wounds. He knew they were just healing him to cause him more pain . . . as Sari watched, but there was nothing he could do about it . . .

The Sith Lord who Sari was sure used to be her childhood friend Diz had not come back and it had been a long time since he had come to tell her that Bow was going to die because of his refusal.

Was Bow already dead? She hadn't heard him in a long time as well . . . No that was impossible, she would have felt it. But what if she was somehow disconnected with the Force? After all, she was in a cell, pain racking her body, and the dark side all around her . . . Something she didn't sense was the knock out gas that filled the room.

Sari's unconscious form was thrown into the same cell that Bow was in. Bow looked at her and quietly said that he was sorry in advance for causing her so much pain, even though she wouldn't hear it and he probably wouldn't live to tell her. . .

When Sari regained consciousness she realized that she wasn't in the same cell she had been in when she blacked out. A look to her left confirmed that, when she saw her master in an energy field, and a pile of his white armor in the far corner.

"So you're finally awake. Good. Now the show can start." Diz nodded to the overseer, a Jedi hunter named Redém, who nodded back as he pulled a lever to the level 13 mark, the middle mark in the fatal red zone . . .

The level 13 shock ran through Bow causing him excruciating pain. Sari tried to close her eyes, but some unknown force kept her from doing that. She was forced to watch as Bow was shocked over and over again until he was on the brink of death.

When it looked as if one more shock would kill Bow, Diz told Redém to stop. He then ignited his lightsaber . . . "Goodbye Jedi." He said as he ran Bow through.

"Noooo!" Sari felt as if half of her had been torn away, and it left her not knowing what to feel. She felt angry, sad, hurt and lonely all at the same time. It made her even angrier to watch as Diz threw Bow's body with disgust against the far wall without a second glance at the life he'd just taken.

"Yes, I feel your anger, your hate, and your pain. Use them, break your restraints, use your Jedi powers against me and avenge your master's death!" Sari tried to block it out, to hold back her rising anger, but couldn't.

In a state of fury and rage she broke the force restraints. "Now you fall, as all Jedi must." "No . . ." She again fought with her anger, but found herself Force choking Diz. When she had almost choked the life out of him, she stopped, finally able to calm herself.

Diz thought she was going to kill him the way he had killed her master, but when he saw that she wasn't reaching for his lightsaber to finish him, he said.

"Fool, you are afraid of the dark side, and that will be your downfall." Sari just stood there as Diz left, not even glancing at him.

When Sari thought that he was well enough away, she brought herself to kneel beside her master's body. Sari wept quietly as she swept her hand over the perfect hole where the lightsaber had gone through him.

But she couldn't hold in her emotions any longer. She wrapped her arms around her master's body, feeling traces of the calmness that was released through his fur. This was the person who was her mentor almost since birth, and the only family she had ever known. She felt her emotions escape in one huge burst, but she didn't care if Diz came back. She'd kill herself before she'd join him, because of all the pain he'd caused others.

Sari started to get up, so she'd be ready when Diz came, but when she felt her master stir she knelt back down, surprised. She looked and saw that the hole was gone.

"What? How is that – " Sari whispered as Bow sat up.

"How is what?" Bow asked.

"I thought you had –"

"Died?"

"Yeah."

"No, I just don't know why I'm over here. The last thing I remember was when the shocks stopped."

[Did I do something? Did I gain a new ability? Not only did I feel that he wasn't faking his death, he doesn't remember any of it . . . Should I tell him, or . . . No, he can't know. He can't know how close I was to falling to the dark side.]

Sari decided to keep her new super-ability to herself, but she had forgotten that the overseer had watched the whole thing through the one-way glass of the control station.

"Diz, there's something that you might want to see." Redém said into the comm panel. "It's urgent."

It wasn't long before Diz walked into the cell. Sari turned quickly and saw him, but she wasn't fast enough to hide Bow.

"So, he's alive again."

"What's he talking about, Sari?" Bow asked, a confused look on his face.

[Well, so much for keeping it a secret.]

"You died, but I somehow revived you." Sari reluctantly said.

"The ability to bring those that have died back to life. You're the first with this ability and you'll make an excellent addition to the Sith ranks. Too bad you won't let go of that _Jedi_ you call _master_."

Sari knew she couldn't let her emotions control her. She couldn't let Bow see her in the same state of rage as before.

"He _is_ my master, and you are not. You do not control me." She said calmly.

"Yet. I don't control you yet, but in time . . . I will." Sari barely had time to see him smile wickedly before a rush of the Force lifted her up and slammed her hard against the wall, rendering her unconscious yet again.


	3. Chapter 3

When Sari awoke she once more was in Force restraints and in her original cell. [Back to square one, only this time, there is a greater reason for them to try harder. I'm not just another Jedi anymore, not to them . . .]

What Sari guessed to be an hour later, the door opened and in walked . . . Bow? He had a different air about him though . . . a dark one . . .

"Bow?" Sari asked.

He reached out his hand with the Force and Sari flew towards him. She was brought to an abrupt halt as his hand clasped around her neck.

"Master, why? Why did you fa–" He squeezed, cutting her off.

"Your old master is dead. But I can still teach you . . . how about a lesson . . . in pain." Sari struggled to breathe, but when she found out that she couldn't, she thrashed around wildly, trying to escape his grasp. Her vision tunneled, and she felt light-headed, then he threw her into the far wall.

Sari had thought that this was possibly an escape attempt, but based on the force with which she hit the wall and the whole choking thing she wasn't quite sure. Usually, what they did was have a mock fight or something like that where they didn't hit each other with all they had, but instead made it to where it looked believable. But the Force lightning that he sent at her was at full power, and the resounding laughter of the dark lords and apprentices that filled the air added to her fear that this was real.

She waited for the little whispers that told her that it would be alright and to just go along with it and the soft blows of acting, but they never came. All she got was pain, and the realization that her master, her _master _was torturing her. But he wasn't just that, he was her friend, and now he'd fallen into the same thing that she was resisting, and that he had been resisting all of his life . . .

After accepting the fact that this was in fact her master, or at least her former master, the blows seemed to feel like the blows that the Sith Lords had dealt her. But it seemed wrong to think of Bow as a Sith. He would always be her master.

But this new person in Bow was a different story. It was the darkness that was torturing her, and she had to remember that. She had to remember that . . .

2 days later . . .

Pain . . . suffering . . . death . . . That's what a single Jedi felt when she was captured, and brought to the Sith base of the Southwest Shadowlands of Lonü.

She had heard stories when she was younger about the torture the Sith put Jedi through to try to convert them . . . and they weren't pretty. Now she was in the same position as those who had suffered and were suffering.

What could've been a child's scream cut through the air of the hallways near the torture chambers, but it was raspy and rough . . . almost as if they had lost their voice by screaming . . . [Not even the . . . padawans are spared.] She thought as she heard what sounded like a young girl's screams. [And if the padawans aren't spared, there's no telling what's in store for me . . .]

Sari, the young girl that was screaming, had been tortured continually for the last two days. On the first day, they started to use a Force phantom of Bow to torture her, making her believe that her master had fallen to the dark side. They kept using Force lightning, and because of her prolonged exposure to it, her nerves were beginning to be destroyed. Her muscles twitched, and went into spasms. She could barely stand, but they still didn't stop. They wouldn't until she had joined them. And it was getting harder and harder to refuse, especially when they started to use their special Sith poison on the second day.

Sith poison made it harder to resist the dark side by multiplying the anger of an individual. And it seemed to be working. On the first day, when they had started to use a Force phantom of Bow to torture her, she was horrified, but the next day, she was angry, angry at Bow for falling, angry at them for bringing her pain, and angry at Sarah for simply existing, even though she was only present in her mind . . .

[_But I can't help but be here, I'm part of you!_ Well go away! No one wants you here!] Sarah didn't respond, instead she started to sing. Sari listened and was calm for a second, but then got angry again. [Shut up! No one wants to hear you!] Sarah kept singing. [I said shut up!] Sari slammed Sarah against the mental wall. [_Sari, you need to calm down. The poison only adds to your anger._ Be quiet!] Sari then hit Sarah, something she had never done before. Sarah was stunned. Sari's anger was extinguished when she realized what she had done. Sarah reached up and touched her cheek where Sari had hit her.

[Sarah . . . I . . . didn't . . .] But she was already gone. She had fled from the body completely, becoming nothing more than an empty disturbance in the Force, a disturbance that could also be felt by the Sith lords torturing Sari. Eyre nodded and left to find out what it was.

Sarah kept going until she came to a corner a ways off from where she started. There she began to cry, invisible to the normal eye. She didn't notice when Eyre came up to her.

"Now what's a girl like you doing here all alone?" Sarah was surprised, but she didn't show it. Instead she went through the wall she was seated against.

She ended up in a room that had the Jedi hunters, going on about how they had caught another Jedi. Sarah just sat there and cried. She cried for herself, for Sari, for Bow, and for whomever it was that the hunters had captured. She cried until she had no more tears . . . or at least until she had to go back to Sari because she was starting to fade. Sarah couldn't go for long periods of time without a body or one of pure heart in contact with her, otherwise she'd fade away. She was, after all, just a spirit, and a spirit couldn't live without a body, or some sort of attachment to the physical realm . . .

Sarah silently walked through the hallways back to the chamber that they were keeping Sari in. But for some reason she couldn't go through the door. [_Huh, how can I not go through the door? What, I can't even go through the wall!_] The whole room was covered in . . . something . . . something that stopped her from entering.

"Hello there." Sarah turned towards the voice. A figure in a black cloak was standing a few feet away from her. "I see that you can't get in. Is there something that you need inside, or is it someone?"

"_Uh, it's kind of both. I need my body._" Sarah said, allowing her voice to be heard.

"Oh, that's too bad. The place is in lockdown. No one goes in and no one comes out."

"_Please, let me in. I know that you can._" Sarah pleaded.

"Sorry, no can do." The Sith said calmly with a smile on his face.

"_What am I thinking! There's no way he'll let me in. He's a Sith, he doesn't care if I die._" Sarah whispered to herself.

"Die? You'll die?" Eyre questioned.

Sarah didn't answer.

"Oh, then that changes everything. Go right on in." The invisible barrier was lifted and Sarah entered, confused.

"Ok_, Sith being nice to little girl's spirits, something's wrong here._" She whispered to herself.

"No, nothing's wrong, It's just –"

"Eyre! Are you talking to spirits again? Really, just give it up, there is no such thing as ghosts, and there's no way that you're going to make me believe that they exist! Things die, and when they die they're gone forever! Their 'spirit' doesn't stay behind to haunt the killer, that's just youngling tales!"

"_Spirits aren't always dead, get your facts straight._" Sarah said as she walked through the wall and into the room. Sarah then eased herself back into the body, the argument of the two acolyte's echoing through the wall. [_Hopefully Sari has calmed down a bit . . ._]

Sari had calmed down a lot and was happy to see that Sarah had returned unharmed. [_That one acolyte, Eyre, he's a bit superstitious, so he didn't really bother me. In fact he's the one that let me in here._ Yes, I was afraid when I felt the wall go up that you would be trapped out there. _But I'm not, so quit worrying. How's Bow, or do you know?_ No, but I don't think that they're torturing him. I don't think that killed him again either though . . . _Sari, they caught another Jedi. I don't know what their name is or anything, but I thought that you would like to know. Maybe they'll stop messing with you for a while._ Maybe, but probably not.] There was silence between them. [_Sari . . . do you hear something?_ Like what? _Like . . . someone screaming._] Sari listened and quieted her mind like Bow was teaching her to do. Someone was screaming; a female Jedi, in the base, a room or two down . . . [It's probably the Jedi that was captured recently. _Poor heart, it's broken__._ What? _His heart, it's cracked__._ Wait . . . his? It's a girl Jedi. _No, it's her torturer__. __I want to heal his heart, but I don't want to be caught outside of the room if another wall goes up._ Well what about the Jedi? Could you help her too? _I could, but there is nothing wrong with her heart. It is strong, like a fire, like yours. It knows what has to happen, and is very connected with the Force. It feels everything around it, even the pain of others._ It's hard to miss the pain of others. _No, it's the . . . connections. It's what's happening as a result of the pain, not the pain itself.___Oh. Well I hope that – _Wait, he's -_ Wait, he's what? _He's . . .____Force-sensitive._ Why is that so important? _Because, if they find out he'll be subject to the same treatment that you are receiving now, and nobody deserves that._ Yeah, I know . . .]


	4. Chapter 4

"You have a touch of the Force inside of you." The female Jedi said. "If the Sith find out they will undoubtedly come and break you into one as well."

[No, I won't believe it. I refuse to.] Redém thought. [I can't be like them. Jedi lie. They always have. But people have been disappearing from the ranks . . . no. It's not true. It can't be.] Redém pressed a button and watched as she screamed from the shock that went through her. [Oh, how I'd love to kill her and end all of her foolish Jedi ways . . .]

He could feel it, how close to death the Jedi was. It would only take one more, maybe not even that. He reached for the button, but got a strange feeling . . . in his head . . .

[What, what's this . . . feeling? It's pain . . . but it's not mine . . . it's the galaxy's, the Jedi's, the padawan's . . . GET OUT OF MY HEAD JEDI!]

But the feeling didn't go away.

[It's like, listening to the heartbeat of the galaxy. Like awakening and feeling a bright sun for the first time . . . No, get out of my head!] He remembered what the Jedi had said before, about him being Force-sensitive.

[She's the only one who knows about my Force-sensitive nature. But the Sith could find out . . . if she lives and they torture her . . .]

"A Jedi's life is sacrifice." He heard her whisper. He moved his hand over the button, and then brought it down. There was the electrical sound of a shock, and a thump as her body hit the floor, but the feeling didn't go away. It stayed there, the heartbeat of the galaxy faintly beating . . .

[That's strange, at first I remember thinking that I would have loved to kill her, but now . . . I killed her because she loved me. It's this strange kind of love where you're willing to give up everything for someone you don't even know. She sacrificed herself to save me. Me. After all I've done to Jedi like her . . . I just can't get these emotions out of my head. I feel . . . guilty. I have to do . . . something. I can't do what I'm doing now any longer. I have to leave. I can't hurt Jedi anymore now that I have felt . . . this . . .]

He heard a scream coming from the adjoining room, and felt a little pain with it.

[That's the last thing that I'm going to do here . . . let them free. If I don't . . . this guilt . . . It will consume me.]

He left the room, silently saying thank you to the Jedi that he had killed out of love.

[I'll have to wait until the Sith lords get out of the padawan's cell, then I can let her and her master free.]

As if to answer Redém's thought, the Sith filed out of the room. When the Sith were well enough away, Redém opened the door.

He wasn't prepared to see the padawan, a child, lying on the floor, violently shaking; one of the effects of the Force lightning that the Sith Lords had been using on her.

[And this one has been going through this for about three days. How can she stand it? And now that I really look at her, she looks a little young for a padawan. She looks like she's only ten years old. I thought padawans were at least thirteen.]

But Redém couldn't just stand there, she needed help and the Sith Lords might come back any minute. He approached the still shaking child and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder to calm her. They both jerked away when they touched, the girl, because his gentle touch on her skin freaked out her nerves and Redém, because an after-shock coursed through him upon contact with her. Her shaking lessened in intensity down to a mild shiver.

[No, I still have to help her.]

"It's okay; I'm here to help you."

"Hel . . . p?"

"Yes. Can you sit up?" The girl reflexively curled up into a ball and cried.

"No – no!"

Redém realized that the girl mistook sit for Sith and went to correct himself. "No, not Sith, sit, like this." Redém stopped squatting down and sat on the floor. He then regretted it because he sat in something wet, probably the girl's blood.

The girl struggled, but didn't have the strength to get up.

[It hurts . . . it hurts so much . . . But this one is trying to . . . help me get out . . .]

"I can carry you out, but it will hurt a bit."

[_Sari, what if you took over my form for the time being? It's not damaged, but keep in mind that it is not as physically capable as yours._ All I'm . . . worried about at . . . the moment is . . . that it can . . . run . . . or even . . . stand up for . . . that matter . . . _It can, but it won't go as fast or as long as you're used to._ That's okay . . . for now . . . _Okay, just, please, don't hurt it too much._ I promise . . .] "No, something better." There was a bright flash and Sari's battered form changed into Sarah's normal form. [Wow, it feels so weird. I feel . . . weak. _Yeah, thanks._]

Redém was surprised at her sudden transformation, but still said. "Come, we have to get out of here quickly."

Sari followed Redém to the next cell over. Redém opened the door and they saw Bow hanging in an energy field. A look of surprise crossed Bow's face as he saw what looked like Sarah, but felt like Sari.

When he saw Redém behind her he concluded that the Sith were going to torture them again, but Sari cleared that up.

"Bow, we're getting out of here. Redém's is going to help us escape." Redém went into the control station and went over to the button that would release Bow from the energy field. But as his hand went to go press it, his eye saw the button that would send an electric shock through him. It would be so easy to betray her trust right now. And if he did, he had a feeling that it would be worth it . . .

. . . But then he felt the Force again. He remembered what the Jedi had sacrificed. He remembered what would happen if the Sith found out about him. And he felt a bright happiness that washed through him. But it wasn't his own. It was of the master and padawan that he saw before him . . . He couldn't do it . . . His hand moved over to the release button . . .

Bow unceremoniously fell to the floor and Sari laughed.

"Come on," Redém said. "They'll be coming soon."

"What about our lightsabers?" Sari said as she helped Bow up.

"The other Jedi hunters have them. I can get them for you, just help your master put on his armor, get to the exit, and wait for me."

Redém knew that he couldn't just waltz into the room and ask if he could take the Jedi's lightsabers. The Lead Jedi Hunters would never give their trophies to him. That meant that he had to steal them . . . It meant that he had to use his stealth . . . And with his skills, he might as well just walk up to them . . . After all, they were trained professionals. But he would try.

Redém opened the door as quietly as he could. The other Jedi Hunters were asleep. That was good. He could see the lightsabers on the table nearest to him. Also good. He could also see that . . .

[Blast!]

Torue, the leader of Redém's Jedi Hunter group, had just woken up.

[Great, just great! Now how am I supposed to get the sabers?]

The answer presented itself when Torue got up from his chair, heading for the bathroom. Redém moved as soon as he heard the door to the bathroom close.

He grabbed the sabers and was about to walk out of the room, when the door suddenly opened. He slid underneath the table, and tried to make himself as small as possible. He hoped that the person entering hadn't seen him. Black boots and the ends of a black robe were all Redém saw of the person who had entered the room. Make that, the Sith who had entered the room . . .

The refresher door opened and Torue walked out. The Sith walked towards Torue.

"Where is the one you call Redém?" The Sith asked.

Torue seemed surprised that a Sith was in the Jedi Hunter's private room. He was especially surprised to find out that it was Diz.

"I ask again, where is Redém?" Torue scanned the room.

"He's not here, sir. I don't know where he is."

"Find him."

"Yes, sir." Diz reached out a hand and Torue grasped his neck, the universal sign for choking.

"I believe that "my Lord" would be more fitting, don't you think?"

"Of course – my Lord –" Torue choked out. Diz let go and Torue rushed out of the room. Diz walked slowly towards the exit. Redém was frightened that Diz would find him, and the slight 'click' of Diz's boots against the floor added to that fear. The clicking became louder as Diz walked closer . . .

Diz reached the door . . . but then turned around and seemed to look right at the table that Redém was hiding under. Diz's eyes scanned the rest of the room then went back to the table. A smile crossed his face as he walked out of the room . . .

Redém didn't come out from under the table until the Diz's footsteps faded away. He opened the door and rushed through the hallways to the entrance, holding the lightsabers so tight that he was sure that he had an imprint of them on his hands.

Sari and Bow were at the exit, on their guard. He handed them their lightsabers, his hands shaking. They hung their lightsabers on their belts as he started to work on disarming the alarm system.

The door opened and Bow asked the questions that had been on his mind.

"Why are you doing this for us? Why do you give our lightsabers back freely and open the door for us?"

"I can't explain it, just go. Get far away from here."

[I have to leave too. I have to . . . get lost, go somewhere where no one can find me.]

Bow nodded and the Master and padawan ran off into the forest.

Redém watched until they were out of sight. [It's time for me to go.] He ran back into the base, but turned towards the hangar to find his ship, the same ship that he had used to bring so many Jedi to this base to be turned, and also the one that would never return here again . . .


End file.
